NOTHING LIL ABOUT WAYNE
The prolific hip-hop superstar’s eagerly awaited Cash Money/Universal Republic album, Tha Carter IV, hit retail last Monday and is on target for sales of 870-900k in its first week.
Based on first-day sales from those retailers not selling corn dogs to Tea Party candidate Michele Bachmann, the album will easily debut at #1 on next week’s HITS chart.
The rapper’s last installment in the series, Tha Carter III, sold 1.005m on release in June, 2008.
Warner Bros. rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You is on target for sales between 200-225k, making it a lock for #2. That total is dwarfed by its last album, 2006’s Stadium Arcadium, which bowed with 443k on its way to 2.3million. The first single, “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” is #1 at Alternative and Triple A and Top 5 at both Active and Mainstream Rock.
RCA Nashville Florida-born country star Jake Owen’s Barefoot Blue Jean Night, his first since 2009’s Easy Does It, is looking like 45-50k in his first week, a nice gain over the previous album’s 23k.
Capitol/EMI dance maestro David Guetta’s Nothing but the Beat debuts with 33-38k, while Lenny Kravitz’s Roadrunner bow, Black and White
Album sales were down 4% vs. last week, flat vs. the same week last year and still up 2% year to date.
Track sales were down 3% vs. last week, up 13% vs. same week last year and up 11% year to date.
TEA (Track Equivalent Album) sales were down 4% vs. last week, up 4% vs. same week last year and up 5% year to date.
